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About Economics

What is Economics?

Economics is a fascinating study of human behavior that attempts to assess how individuals respond to incentives. While the core of economics revolves around the working and efficiency of markets and corresponding impacts on producers and consumers, research questions addressed by economists have evolved over the past decades.

Why study Economics?

Contemporary research by economists are of broad interest to policymakers as well as to the private sector, and have impacted developments in other disciplines such as sociology, psychology, statistics, and epidemiology. Economics is a unique discipline in that it combines thinking that is common in social sciences with powerful tools and methods that are routinely used in applied mathematics and statistics. In that respect, it is truly a hybrid discipline that exposes students to different modes of analysis and thinking.

What can I do with an Economics degree?

There is often a significant demand for economists by the public as well as private sector. Our graduates regularly obtain placements in the Federal (Industry Canada, Department of Finance, Human Resources and Development Canada) as well as provincial departments (Ontario Ministry of Finance, Ontario Ministry of Energy and the Environment, Ontario Ministry of Transport) and are involved in policy making. Economists also tend to fit well in the private sector and are able to obtain placements in financial institutions as well as consulting firms.

Why should I take Co-op?

A new study by Professor Maureen Drysdale, Department of Psychology, St. Jerome's University and Professor John Goyder, Department of Sociology, University of Waterloo finds that co-op students earn more and get more prestigious jobs upon graduation than do non-co-op students.  Read the complete article.